tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68679342537901828102024-03-20T02:31:17.197-05:00Brian January, Thriller AuthorAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08034748375177433198noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867934253790182810.post-56600245143724555452015-06-28T15:39:00.002-05:002015-06-28T15:39:53.466-05:00Emerald update!One of the joys of writing novels is the creation of characters who seem to come to life--people who, just like actual human beings, change and evolve over time and with experience. This, of course, is the classic character arc of literature. Even so, to my mind, action-adventure protagonists should stay relatively stable--James Bond, for example, is always James Bond. Still, over the course of three novels and four novellas that chronicle the exploits of OSR field officers Park Skarda and April Force, subtle changes have occurred in these characters' interactions that just weren't conceivable when I first wrote <i>Emerald</i>, the flagship book of the series. While Skarda is still Skarda, still haunted by the murder of his wife, and April will always be April--enigmatic, competent, and dangerous--nevertheless they have changed in subtle ways over the span of their adventures.<br />
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Therefore I've decided to update <i>Emerald</i> with a second edition (WIP), taking into account what I've come to learn about Skarda and April over time. I hadn't re-read the novel since I published it in 2011--at that time it received some favorable attention from agents and publishers, but I decided to self-publish, anyway--and when I recently went through it again I was pleased to find that the story held up well as did the all-important pacing (I write for entertainment purposes--plane or beach reads that make my readers happily turning pages and take them away from their daily cares for a few hours--so fast pacing is a must). I did find a couple of typos and duplicated words that I and my proofreaders missed the first time (we're just human after all, but reviewers will give you a 1-star rating for a missing period), and there were a couple of factoids that my research at the time told me were correct, but which turned out to be wrong. It's essentially the same story, but a few things have been deleted and few added. So if you've already read it, no need to buy a new copy (unless you want to!) and if you haven't, I hope you will read it and enjoy it!
It should be out soon!
As always, many thanks to all my readers and fans!
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://amzn.com/B005WM0HN6</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08034748375177433198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867934253790182810.post-51641805647078034032015-06-25T10:46:00.001-05:002015-06-25T10:51:07.140-05:00The new Park Skarda-April Force thriller is out!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFEkI592wPFptlzXoRgxRApglcwoiVyp-1pM5z5xfpVXJqpXpKYLM5CBnj_K0TVJF2Be9n4ZOoG6xmstk2aU0B94-p_Y50Qt0zp-cGT7iFN03Gdho20K-xbQxlAg9aCVQ0TIp54L4qsM/s1600/ironcoverpublish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFEkI592wPFptlzXoRgxRApglcwoiVyp-1pM5z5xfpVXJqpXpKYLM5CBnj_K0TVJF2Be9n4ZOoG6xmstk2aU0B94-p_Y50Qt0zp-cGT7iFN03Gdho20K-xbQxlAg9aCVQ0TIp54L4qsM/s320/ironcoverpublish.jpg" width="200" /></a>It's been a while since I published <i>Sapphire</i> (bundled with <i>Platinum</i>), but finally <i>Iron</i> (bundled with<i> Ruby</i>) is out, available at amazon.com!<br />
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Here is the book description:<br />
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OSR field officers Park Skarda and April Force are back
again for more edge-of-your-seat action in two exciting new novellas from Brian
January!</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Iron</i></div>
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Astrophysicist and genius inventor Dr. Lucius Nero is a man
in torment, whose sickness is compelling him to do nothing less than destroy
the entire Earth by pulling asteroids out of their orbits to wreak destruction
on the planet.</div>
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When Skarda and April witness the first wave of meteorites
strike the Washington Monument, they set off on a race against time to try to
stop Nero from carrying out his suicidal plan.</div>
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From Washington, D.C. to the rust-colored deserts of
northern Arizona, it's a non-stop thrill ride as the minutes tick down toward
the last seconds before ultimate extinction.</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Iron</i> is a novella
of approximately 20,000 words, bundled with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ruby</i>,
a novella of approximately 32,000 words.</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ruby</i></div>
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When Skarda finds an ancient ruby in a medieval burial
chamber, it triggers off a maelstrom of events that pit the OSR team against an
obese sex trafficker named Zaric, whose mercenary force steals the ruby and
kidnaps Hailey Buchanan, the daughter of a United States senator.</div>
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Now it's personal, and Skarda and April will stop at nothing
to rescue Hailey and get back the precious gem. From the streets of Paris to
the Croatian coast and the rugged wilds of the Dinaric Alps the chase is on!</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ruby</i> is a novella
of approximately 32,000 words bundled with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Iron</i>,
a novella of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>approximately 20,000
words. </div>
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Here is the link to the Amazon page: <a href="http://amzn.to/1IfWicP">http://amzn.to/1IfWicP</a> </div>
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I hope you enjoy reading the novellas! As always, many thanks for all the support of readers and fans--I do appreciate it!</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://amzn.com/B005WM0HN6</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08034748375177433198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867934253790182810.post-19148731645062106512014-01-07T14:57:00.000-06:002014-01-11T12:17:08.733-06:00Sapphire (Plus Platinum) is out!<i>Sapphire</i> (bundled with <i>Platinum</i>), the new Park Skarda-April Force adventure thriller, is out as a Kindle edition on Amazon!<br />
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Here is the book description:<br />
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<i>Sapphire</i><span style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"></span>
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When OSR sends Skarda and April<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span>to Sri Lanka to hunt for a missing
geologist who has unearthed a deposit of rare sapphires, they discover chilling
news: a ruthless international arms merchant needs these gemstones to
manufacture handheld laser weapons, capable of fearsome destruction, which he
plans to sell to America’s enemies.</div>
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Now, plunged into desperate
battle with the arms dealer and Perera, his sadistic lieutenant, Skarda and
April must stop at nothing to keep the sapphires from falling into their
adversaries’ hands. From Paris to the Amalfi Coast to the Sri Lankan rainforest,
they embark on a lethal race against danger, double-dealing, and devastating
consequences if they fail. </div>
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<i>Sapphire</i> is a thriller
novella of approximately 20,000 words or 80 printed pages. It is bundled with
<i>Platinum</i>, a novella of approximately 35,000 words.</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Platinum</i></span> </div>
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—15,000 years ago, in the remote
Koryak mountains of northeastern Russia, a meteorite crashed to Earth, bearing
with it an unknown type of crystal with a strange atomic structure, called a
quasicrystal.</div>
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—In 1933, President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt confiscated gold coins and bullion from the American people,
melting the precious metal into bars and securing them in the newly-built Gold
Depository at Fort Knox, Kentucky. But decades later, an ambitious congressman
is making public allegations that the gold is missing.</div>
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—In the 1960’s, the Soviet Union
embarked on secret experiments with the ultra-rare isotope platinum-205 to
develop cloaking technology that will make human beings
invisible.</div>
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Now, deep in the Siberian
wilderness, OSR officers Park Skarda and April Force witness the impossible:
three <i>Spetsnaz</i> soldiers materializing out of thin air.</div>
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But someone else knows about the
invisibility technology, too. A team of mercenaries attacks, led by the vicious
Pavel Toll, setting off a globe-spanning chase with implications that could
ignite a powder keg for international war.</div>
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Framed for murder and
outmaneuvered by Toll, Skarda and April must win a deadly race against the clock
in a desperate attempt to stop Toll and his mercenary team from carrying out
their ingenious scheme.</div>
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<i>Platinum</i> is a thriller
novella of approximately 35,000 words or 140 printed pages. It is bundled with
<i>Sapphire</i>, a novel of approximately 20,000 words.</div>
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Here is the link to the book on
Amazon: <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HQ5EFCQ">http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HQ5EFCQ</a></div>
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Be sure to read the previous Park
Skarda-April Force thrillers <i>Emerald</i>, <i>Silver</i>, and <i>Diamond</i>,
available as Kindle editions on Amazon!</div>
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And many, many sincere thanks to
all my fans for making the books a big success! As always, my goal is to
entertain!</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://amzn.com/B005WM0HN6</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08034748375177433198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867934253790182810.post-63724496359715760232013-11-11T12:54:00.002-06:002013-11-11T13:06:00.263-06:00More Favorite Action Movies!<p><i>Another 48 Hours </i>(1990)—Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte reunite to reprise their <i>48 Hours</i> roles. This time, Jack Cates (Nolte) seeks out Reggie Hammond (Murphy), about to be released from jail, to help him track down “The Iceman”, an elusive drug dealer who has hired some very nasty bikers to kill him (Cates). Exceedingly violent and disturbing at times, but the action comes fast and furious, with Nolte at his grumpy best and Murphy giving his usual stand-out performance.</p>
<p><i>Die Hard 2 </i>(1990)—Bruce is back as John McClane! When terrorists take over the air traffic control system at Washington Dulles International Airport, McClane goes into action to thwart the Bad Guys’ plan to rescue a South American drug lord who is being transported to the States to stand trial. None of the series can possibly stand up to the original, but this one doesn’t suffer badly by comparison. A cable TV staple.</p>
<p><i>Judge Dredd</i> (1995)—in the dystopian future of the third millennium, overcrowded Mega-City One is policed by law officers called “Judges”, who serve as judge, jury, and executioner (“ I am the law!” snarls Dredd). But when former Judge and psychopathic villain Rico (Armand Assante) escapes from prison and frames Dredd for murder, Dredd is sent to prison. Escaping, he sets out to stop Rico’s pogrom of assassinating the tribunal of Judges and taking over the city. For some reason, filmmakers always feel the need to temper an uber-violent lead character with a comic foil and it’s no different here: Rob Schneider plays Fergee as Dredd’s goofy, unwilling sidekick. From the British comic anthology 2000 AD.</p>
<p><i>Passenger 57</i> (1992)—former police officer John Cutter (Wesley Snipes) is the fifty-seventh passenger to board a flight to L.A., on which two FBI agents are transporting the international terrorist Charles Rane (Bruce Payne) to stand trial. Unbeknownst to Cutter, Rane has confederates on board to effect his escape. It’s <i>Die Hard</i> on a plane!</p>
<p><i>Road House</i> (1989)—mullets abound in this small-town actioner starring Patrick Swayze and Ben Gazzara. James Dalton (Swayze) is a professional “cooler” (bouncer) hired by a local Missouri bar owner to shore up his security force. It isn’t long before he butts heads with local power broker Brad Wesley (Gazzara), who wants to usurp ownership of the bar. Sam Elliott shows up as Dalton’s aging ally and local nurse Kelly Lynch is the love interest. Good movie—it holds up well!</p>
<p><i>Runaway</i> (1984)—Tom Selleck was still Magnum, P.I. when he starred in this sci-fi action flick. In the future, robots are as common as toasters, but occasionally one malfunctions as a “runaway”. When a runaway robot commits murder, police sergeant Jack Ramsay (Selleck) and his new partner Karen Thompson (Cynthia Rhodes) investigate, uncovering an evil plot spawned by the villainous Gene Simmons of Kiss. Look for Kirstie Alley in one of her early roles.</p>
<p><i>Soldier</i> (1998)—in the not-too-distant future, Kurt Russell is Sergeant Todd, trained from birth to be a ruthless, conscienceless soldier and now old enough to be considered useless. When he loses a combat trial with a younger, new breed of genetically-engineered soldiers, he is presumed dead and shipped to a waste disposal planet, where a group of survivors from a crashed spacecraft have managed to eke out a primitive existence. But when a squadron of genetically-engineered soldiers arrives on the planet to wipe out the colonists, Todd, newly connected to his emotions, unleashes his rage in a one-man war to save the day. The tone is generally grim, but it’s well worth seeking out.</p>
<p><i>The A-Team</i> (2010)—a big-budget adaptation of Stephen J, Cannell’s iconic 1980’s TV show of the same of name in which a team of ex-Special Forces soldiers, having escaped from an Army prison for a “crime they didn’t commit”, take on mercenary assignments while on the run. Liam Neeson stars as their leader, John “Hannibal” Smith, with Bradley Cooper as Templeton “Faceman” Peck, Quinton Jackson as B.A. Baracus, and Sharlto Copley as “Howling Mad” Murdock. It’s a bit uneven in spots, clever in others, and doesn’t really resemble the TV show (bad guys actually get killed!), but overall it’s a fun ride! Look for cameos by Dwight Schultz (the original “Murdock”) and Dirk Benedict (the original “Faceman”) and Simon and Simon’s Gerald McRaney shows up as General Morrison.</p>
<p><i>The Expendables</i> (2010)—Sylvester Stallone stars as Barney Ross, leader of a band of mercenaries on a mission to overthrow a Latin American dictator who turns out to be a puppet of profiteering CIA operatives. Plenty of action and quality kills and you can’t do wrong with the legendary co-starring cast: Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lungren, Eric Roberts, Steve Austin, and Mickey Rourke. Stallone co-wrote and directed.</p>
<p><i>The Punisher</i> (1989)—when the mafia murders ex-cop Frank Castle’s family, he goes to ground, waging a one-man vigilante war against organized crime. Starring Dolph Lungren as the stone-faced Punisher.</p>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://amzn.com/B005WM0HN6</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08034748375177433198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867934253790182810.post-72359542612488903852013-11-11T12:32:00.004-06:002013-11-11T12:49:20.833-06:00The History of the Emerald Tablet<p>Cloaked by the dust of centuries and entwined in the complex mythological traditions of the ancient Egyptians, Hebrews, and Greeks, the mythological tradition of the Emerald Tablet of Thoth is not only obscure, but open to question: did such an artifact actually exist and if so, who created it? Since the Tablet serves as the spine of the plot of my thriller novel Emerald, it’s worth a short investigation into its fabled history.</p>
<p>Also known as the “Smaragdine Tablet” (Tabula Smaragdina in Latin), the Emerald Tablet is said to have been a rectangular plaque carved out of emerald or green crystal, etched with mystical writings (the sum of all knowledge) in bas-relief letters in an alphabet resembling the Phoenician, Syriac, or Chaldean. Legends about its authorship abound: some ancient commentators maintained that Thoth, a priest-king of Atlantis who had fled to Egypt when the doomed city sank beneath the waves, carved and inscribed the Tablet, eventually hiding two copies inside the pillars of the temples at Khum (Hermopolis) and Wase (Thebes); Jewish mystics believed that Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve (perhaps misidentified with the Egyptian god Set/Seth), wrote the Tablet, while others, syncretizing Thoth with the Greek god Hermes (Hermes Trismegistus), had Hermes giving the Tablet to Miriam, the sister of Moses, who cached it in the Ark of the Covenant; and still another legend held that Thoth/Hermes was a fifth-century BCE philosopher who found the Tablet in a cave in Ceylon.</p>
<p>The name Thoth is the Greek transcription of the Egyptian Djehuty (from the root dhw, meaning “ibis”), one of the most ancient and principal deities of the Egyptian pantheon, a son of Ra and a lunar god who invented writing and the alphabet, created magic, taught wisdom to mankind, and, like his Greek counterpart, Hermes, acted as the messenger of the gods. The Egyptians credited him with the authorship of all works of science, religion, philosophy, and magic. As a lunar deity he was represented fully as a baboon, but most depictions portray him as a man with the head of an ibis (a wading bird with a long, curved beak).</p>
<p>Following the campaigns of Alexander the Great (and particularly after his death in 323 BCE), the spread of Hellenism into Egypt served to conflate Thoth with the Greek Hermes, himself a god of writing and magic, to create the new archetypal figure Hermes Trismegistus (Thrice-Great Hermes), a god worshipped in the Temple of Thoth at Hermopolis. Eventually he came to be imagined not as a divine being but to have been an historical human prophet or philosopher and the author of the Corpus Hermeticum, a series of short texts in Greek for the teaching of alchemy, astrology, theurgy, and magical spells (in his Stromata, the third-century CE Christian theologian Clement of Alexandria specifies the number of books as forty-two). The origin of the epithet “Trismegistus” is unclear, but seems to date from the first century CE (its earliest mention is in the works of the Phoenician grammarian and historian Philo of Byblos [circa 64-141 CE]), even though Hermes Trismegistus was credited with the authorship of thousands of works of great antiquity. That Hermetic writings—by multiple authors—did exist in the early centuries of the Christian era is entirely clear, as evidenced by references to them in the works of Plutarch, Tertullian, Iamblichus, and Porphyry. Since the early Church fathers believed that Hermes Trismegistus had been a contemporary of Moses, Abraham, Enoch, or Noah and had predicted the coming of Christianity (Augustine dedicated chapters of The City of God to him), during the first few centuries of the Christian era Hermetic works enjoyed great popularity as evidence of the prisca theologia, the doctrine that God had bestowed a single, true theology on humans in the remote past. However, most of the extant Hermetic writings were destroyed by the Church during its purge of non-Christian literature starting in the fourth century (as late as 1600, the Italian friar, philosopher, and astronomer Giordano Bruno was tried by the Inquisition and burned at the stake for espousing Hermeticism, among other presumed heresies).</p>
<p>Notwithstanding, the rise of neo-Platonic humanism in Renaissance Europe (spurred in large part by Marsilio Ficino’s translation of the Corpus Hermeticum into Latin in the late 1400’s, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa’s De occulta philosophia libri tres [a compendium of occult and Hermetic philosophy published in 1531], and John Everard’s The Divine Pymander in XVII Books of 1650 [an English translation of Ficino’s work] ushered in a resurgent interest in mysticism and occultism: alchemy, astrology, numerology, and ceremonial magic (spells to protect boxes or similar objects resulted in the modern expression “hermetically sealed”).</p>
<p>Into this arena entered the esoteric teachings of the Emerald Tablet, imagined to subsume the secret of the prima materia, the raw material required for the alchemical process and the creation of the philosopher’s stone which could change base metals into gold. The Tablet’s text (whose author is identified as Hermes Trismegistus) circulated freely among medieval and Renaissance alchemists.
But did an actual ancient tablet carved out of emerald exist? According to legend, the Tablet (or two copies of it), along with thousands of scrolls written by Thoth (the ancient Egyptian historian/priest Manetho gives the figure of 36,525), were hidden inside twin pillars, one at Heliopolis and one at Thebes. The Athenian statesman Solon (circa 638-558 BCE) claimed to have inspected them and the Greek historian Herodotus described them in 400 BCE as one made of pure gold and the other of brilliant emerald. The pillars were later moved to the temple of Amun at Siwa in the Libyan desert, where they were found by Alexander the Great and put on public display at the Temple at Heliopolis. In 331 BCE Alexander left Egypt, allegedly taking with him the treasures stored in the pillars and secreting them in an underground cavern in Cappadocia (modern-day Turkey). Here, it is claimed, in 32 CE a youth named Balinas (later to be known as Apollonius of Tyana) found them.</p>
<p>These tales, however, are doubtful, since the earliest known appearance of the text ascribed to the Emerald Tablet dates from an Arabic work written sometime between the sixth and the eighth centuries CE. The oldest surviving source of the text is the eighth-century CE Kitāb sirr al-alīqa (Book of the Secret of Creation and the Art of Nature), attributed to Balinas. Another Arabic text, Kitab Ustuqus al-Uss al-Thani (Second Book of the Elements of Foundation) attributed to the alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan around 800 CE, contains a copy of the Emerald Tablet that also cites Balinas as the source. In the West, the text first appeared in the pseudo-Aristolean Secretum Secretorum (Secret of Secrets), a Latin translation of the Arabic Kitab Sirr al-Asar (Book of Advice to Kings), in the thirteen century.</p>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://amzn.com/B005WM0HN6</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08034748375177433198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867934253790182810.post-35357587532138380862013-09-29T14:32:00.000-05:002013-09-29T14:32:00.657-05:00Another Ten of the Greatest Action Movies!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Here are another ten great action movies you might have
missed, forgotten about, or never heard of!</div>
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<i>Our Man Flint</i> (1966)—the charismatic James Coburn as
super-genius super-spy Derek Flint in a broadly-drawn spoof of the James Bond
films. When a trio of bad-guy scientists threaten the planet with a
weather-control machine, Flint is called out of retirement to save the day.
Far-fetched but fun to watch!</div>
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<i>Cobra</i> (1986)—rewritten by Sylvester Stallone from the
original script of <i>Beverly Hills</i> <i>Cop</i> (in which he was slated to
star before Eddie Murphy). Los Angeles police officer Marion Cobretti
(Stallone), a.k.a. “Cobra”, does violent—very violent--battle with a neo-Fascist
killers. Crime is the disease and Cobra is the cure!</div>
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<i>Knight and Day</i> (2010)—starring Tom Cruise and Cameron
Diaz in a high-octane action comedy about an innocent woman who is
inadvertently swept up in a globe-trotting chase with maybe-good-guy, maybe-bad-guy
spy Tom Cruise. The pace is non-stop and the roller coaster ride is pure fun!</div>
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<i>Firefox</i> (1982)—from the novel of the same title by
Craig Thomas, this Cold War thriller pits Clint Eastwood against the KGB as he
tries to steal a high-tech, radar-invisible Soviet fighter plane from a Russian
air base. Although the movie seems a bit disjointed at times, it’s still very
suspenseful, especially the air chase at the end.</div>
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<i>The Land That Time Forgot</i> (1975)—during World War I,
Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure) and other survivors of a torpedoed merchant ship seize
the U-Boat that sunk them, piloting the submarine to an uncharted sub-continent
in the South Atlantic where they encounter living dinosaurs and primitive
humans. Good story coupled with superior special effects for the time.</div>
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<i>Open Range</i> (2003)—when Boss Spearman (Robert Duvall)
and Charley Waite (Kevin Costner) drive their open-range cattle through
pastures controlled by local land baron Denton Baxter (Michael Gambon),
hostilities break out, resulting in a shoot-out between Baxter and his men and
the open rangers. Annette Bening provides the love interest for Charley. When I
first watched this movie, I dismissed it as a romance novel set in the Old
West, but now that I’ve viewed it several more times, I’ve come to appreciate
it and it’s become one of my favorite movies.</div>
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<i>Pale Rider</i> (1985)—Clint Eastwood as “The Preacher”, a
mysterious stranger who protects a community of gold panners from violence at
the hands of rich and powerful hydraulic miners. The last act is classic Clint
wiping out the Bad Guys one-by-one.</div>
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<i>The Peacemaker</i> (1997)—George Clooney as Army Special
Forces Lieutenant Thomas Devoe and Nicole Kidman (with a good American accent)
as nuclear expert Dr. Julia Kelly. When a Russian general steals a trainload of
nuclear warheads, detonating one, Devoe and Kelly are assigned to retrieve
those remaining. Finally succeeding, they learn that one of the warheads is
still missing and set to explode in New York City. The first half of the movie
is first-rate (with a truly superb car chase/shoot-out sequence), but the
second half oddly runs out of steam and seems like a let-down.</div>
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<i>Force 10 From Navarone</i> (1978)—loosely based on
Alistair MacLean’s 1968 sequel to <i>The Guns of Navarone</i>, this World War
II actioner stars a post-<i>Star Wars</i> Harrison Ford as leader of Force 10,
a sabotage unit sent into Yugoslavia to blow up a German dam. Not as good as
the first Navarone movie, but well worth watching.</div>
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<i>On Her Majesty’s Secret Service</i> (1969)—Australian
actor and model George Lazenby was the first to take over the Bond reins from
Sean Connery (after this one film he refused to play the role again), going
head-to-head with arch-foe Ernst Stavro Blofeld (played by a
somehow-less-than-menacing Telly Savalas). Lazenby’s depiction of Bond’s cruel
nature is perhaps closest to the character of the books (although I maintain
that Pierce Brosnan has earned this honor overall). Diana Rigg plays Bond’s love
interest with an icy coolness.</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://amzn.com/B005WM0HN6</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08034748375177433198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867934253790182810.post-62473931690324103912013-09-01T11:25:00.004-05:002013-09-01T13:04:43.062-05:00Ten More Must-See Action Movies!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Another list of not-to-be-missed action flicks!</div>
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<i>For a Few Dollars More</i> (1965)—classic Clint in the
second outing of the spaghetti western Dollars Trilogy (although it was filmed
in Spain). Bounty hunter Manco (Clint) forms an uneasy alliance with Colonel
Douglas Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef), also a bounty hunter, in a scheme to rob a
bank of a million dollars in gold while thwarting the ruthless, psychopathic
bandit Indio. Charles Bronson turned down Van Cleef’s role.</div>
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<i>Above the Law</i> (1988)—a very svelte Steven Seagal in
his film debut as ex-CIA operative, now Chicago cop, up against corrupt police,
politicians, and CIA types in the Windy City. Lots of first-class Seagal
martial arts action. Henry Silva is a stand-out as the head Bad Guy.</div>
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<i>Broken Arrow</i> (1996)—during a top-secret mission on a
Stealth Bomber, U.S. Air Force Major “Deak” Deakins (John Travolta) shoots his
co-pilot Captain Riley Hale (Christian Slater) and steals the two B-83 nuclear
bombs on board. Hale, still alive, manages to punch out over the Utah
Canyonlands, teaming up with ultra-cute Park Ranger Terry Carmichael (Samantha
Mathis) to stop Deakins from selling the nukes to terrorists. (Thankfully)
unobtrusively directed by John Woo and written by Graham Yost, the penner of <i>Speed</i>.</div>
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<i>Enemy of the State</i> (1998)—starring Will Smith and
Gene Hackman in a tensely-written, gripping thriller about a cadre of NSA
agents who murder a United States congressman and frame an innocent lawyer for
the killing, forcing him to go on the run while pursued by high-tech
intelligence operatives. Gene Hackman as a retired NSA communications expert is
riveting and Will Smith shines at his charismatic best. Watch for Regina King,
who lights up the screen.</div>
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<i>Most Wanted</i> (1997)—while Keenen Ivory Wayans as U.S.
Marine James Dunn languishes on death row, wrongly accused of killing his
commanding officer during the Gulf War, he is recruited by a clandestine ops
team commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Grant Casey (Jon Voight). But when the
First Lady is assassinated, Dunn is framed as the trigger man and has to hit
the streets to uncover the truth. Robert Culp is at his most Culp-iness as
corrupt industrialist Donald Bickhart.</div>
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<i>Predator</i> (1987)—from the glory days of Ah-nuld’s
career, a true classic about a team of Special Forces commandos dispatched to
rescue hostages held by guerillas in the Central American jungle, but who are
stalked and systematically—and gruesomely—killed off by an alien trophy hunter.
Lots of quality kills and very cool creature makeup.</div>
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<i>Silverado</i> (1985)—with an ensemble cast of big stars
(Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Danny Glover, Kevin Costner, Brian Dennehy, Jeff
Goldblum, John Cleese, and Linda Hunt), this movie is a throwback to the great
westerns of the past, pitting a group of misfit gunslingers against a corrupt
sheriff. It’s an old story re-told refreshingly well, mostly due to the engaging
cast and numerous subplots. This was Kevin Costner’s breakout role.</div>
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<i>Tango and Cash</i> (1989)—playing incessantly on cable
TV, this formulaic buddy cop film somehow manages to be riveting, due in large
part to its stars, Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell. Los Angeles narcotics
detectives Ray Tango (Stallone) and Gabriel Cash (Russell) are framed and sent
to a maximum-security prison by the criminal kingpin Yves Perret (Jack
Palance). Managing to escape, they set out of stop Perret. Jack Palance is hyperbolically
(and often hilariously) over-the-top and the big-wheeled assault vehicle at the
end is pure 1980’s. The prison sequences are the best part of the movie.</div>
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<i>The Package</i> (1989)—a riveting political thriller
starring Gene Hackman, Joanna Cassidy, and Tommy Lee Jones. During the Cold
War, Master Sergeant Johnny Gallagher (Hackman) is assigned to escort Army
deserter Thomas Boyette (Jones, the “package”) from West Berlin to the United
States to stand trial in a military court martial. But when Boyette escapes,
Gallagher discovers that the deserter is actually a professional assassin
assigned to kill the world leaders at a nuclear arms summit meeting in Chicago.</div>
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<i>Three Days of the Condor</i> (1975)—when low-level CIA
researcher Joe Turner (Robert Redford) returns to his office after a lunch run,
he finds his co-workers assassinated and soon he’s on the run in the streets of
New York City with the killers hot on his trail. With no one he can trust,
Turner tries to unravel what happened as he outwits his pursuers. Although it’s
a bit slow in spots, it’s still a gripping tale of 1970’s-era political
paranoia.</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://amzn.com/B005WM0HN6</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08034748375177433198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867934253790182810.post-80919230072558529412013-08-20T10:29:00.001-05:002013-08-20T10:32:08.849-05:00More Favorite Action Movies!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Another action movie list! Here are ten unknown, overlooked,
or forgotten favorites from the past!</div>
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<i>Black Dog</i> (1998)—starring Patrick Swayze, Randy
Travis, and Meat Loaf. Truck driver Jack Crews (Swayze) reluctantly ferries a
truckload of illegal arms from Atlanta to New jersey, pursued by a scene-chewing Meat Loaf, who
wants to hijack the guns and kill him. But Jack decides to turn the load over
to the FBI instead...</div>
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<i>Chain Reaction</i> (1996)—at a University of Chicago-run
lab, <span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Eddie Kasalivich (Keanu Reeves)
and physicist Dr. Lily Sinclair (Rachel Weisz) discover a new form of energy
derived from splitting water molecules. When the building explodes, Eddie and
Lily are framed for murder and treason and forced to go on the run. This is an
excellent movie with a tight script. With Morgan Freeman as the duplicitous
Paul Shannon.</span></div>
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<i>Deep Rising</i> (1998)—a much overlooked and
underappreciated action monster flick with Treat Williams as crusty boat
captain John Finnegan, hired to transport a group of mercenaries to an undisclosed
location in the South China Sea. The location turns out to be the luxury cruise
ship <i>Argonautica</i>, which also happens to be the target of one of the
coolest monsters ever put on film. Don’t miss this one! It’s a bit campy, but a
great ride!</div>
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<i>Demolition Man</i> (1993)—cryogenically frozen in the
year 1996, police officer John Spartan (Sylvester Stallone) is reawakened in
2032 to stop the psychopathic Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes)—also frozen in 1996
and now revived—from his current crime spree. Some tongue-in-cheek laughs with
Sly as a fish out of water next to a pre-<i>Speed </i>Sandra Bullock, but
plenty of fast-paced shootouts and explosions. Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven
Seagal both turned down the Spartan role and Jackie Chan said no to Phoenix.</div>
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<i>Malone</i> (1987)—make sure to catch this when it shows
up on cable. Burt Reynolds is the title character, an ex-CIA assassin whose car
breaks down in rural Oregon, where he goes head-to-head with local powerbroker
Charles Delaney (Cliff Robertson). Lauren Hutton has a small role. Good movie!</div>
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<i>Money Talks</i> (1997)—when small-time hustler Franklin
Hatchett (Chris Tucker) learns about a cache of stolen diamonds, he teams up
with investigative TV news reporter James Russell (Charlie Sheen) to find the
stones before European criminals can grab them. Chris Tucker, of course, plays
it for laughs, but action abounds. The big shootout at the L.A. Colosseum is
worth the price of admission.</div>
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<i>Narrow Margin</i> (1990)—after witnessing a mafia hit,
Carol Hunnicut (Anne Archer) flees to a cabin in the remote Canadian
wilderness. But Deputy District Attorney Robert Caulfield (Gene Hackman) tracks
her down and persuades her return to the U.S. to testify. She agrees and they
board a train for Vancouver, unaware that Mafia assassins are on their trail.
The cat-and-mouse tension never lets up.</div>
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<i>Running Scared</i> (1986)—a facile-scripted action comedy
starring the unlikely team of Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines as
Starsky-and-Hutch-like Chicago undercover cops who barely escape death at the
hands of drug dealer Julio Gonzales (Jimmy Smits) and decide to open a bar in
Key West. But Gonzales is released from jail and the two vow to recapture him
first. Lots of action, worth watching!</div>
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<i>The Killer Elite</i> (1975)—from Robert Rostand’s (Robert
Syd Hopkins) novel <i>Monkey in</i> <i>the Middle</i>. Wounded and forced to
retire by his rogue partner, ex-CIA operative Mike Locken rehabilitates himself
and seeks vengeance, recruiting a show-stealing Burt Young and crazed weapons
expert Bo Hopkins to help him. Directed by the uber-violent Sam Peckinpah, the
bloodshed is not up to the over-the-top <i>The Wild Bunch</i> levels and the
movie seems to run out of steam about halfway through. But still very
watchable!</div>
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<i>The Running Man</i> (1987)—based (very loosely) on
Stephen King’s (as Richard Bachman) book of the same title. Arnold
Schwarzenegger stars as falsely-convicted cop Ben Richards who is forced to
participate in a futuristic television game show in which convicted criminals
go on the run from professional executioners. Maria Conchita Alonso is very hot
and Richard Dawson is at his end-of-the-<i>Match Game</i> nastiest as show host
Damon Killian.</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://amzn.com/B005WM0HN6</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08034748375177433198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867934253790182810.post-17712818756407190432013-08-07T14:08:00.001-05:002013-08-07T14:08:41.481-05:00My Favorite Action Movies (the best action movies of all time!)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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I get a lot of questions from fans about my favorite
adventure thriller authors (James Rollins, Andy McDermott, Clive Cussler,
Matthew Reilly, Boyd Morrison, Jack DuBrul, among others), but recently I’ve
had several requests for my favorite action movies. So here they are, in
alphabetical order:</div>
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<i>Air Force One</i> (1997)—Harrison Ford as United States
President James Marshall who has to rescue his plane from terrorists, <i>Die
Hard</i>-style.</div>
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<i>Beverly Hills Cop</i> (1984)—the classic action-comedy
starring Eddie Murphy at his finest.</div>
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<i>Cliffhanger</i> (1993)—Sylvester Stallone plays a
mountain rescue ranger up against impossible odds when John Lithgow’s team of
Bad Guys brings down a U.S. Treasury plane in the Rocky Mountains to steal the
100 million dollars aboard. Lithgow gives a tour-de-force performance as the
psychotic, quirky Eric Qualen.</div>
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<i>Commando</i> (1985)—starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as
John Matrix, a retired Delta Force operative who is forced to carry out a
political assassination when his daughter Jenny (a young Alyssa Milano) is held
hostage. Naturally, he escapes and turns the tables on the Bad Guys. Also
starring the lovely Rae Dawn Chong. One of the best action films of the decade.</div>
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<i>Con Air</i> (1997)—when former Army Ranger Cameron Poe
(Nicolas Cage) accidentally kills a man for assaulting his pregnant wife, he is
sentenced to a maximum-security federal penitentiary. After his release, he is
to be sent home on a C-123 prison transport plane along with a number of other
convicts, including Cyrus “The Virus” Grissom (John Malkovitch), who hijacks
the plane en route, forcing Poe to attempt to save the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Steve Buscemi as Garland “The Marietta
Mangler” Greene is over-the-top creepy and John Cusack as U.S. Marshal Vince
Larkin holds his end up well. The final act is the best part of the movie.</div>
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<i>Die Another Day</i> (2002)—the twentieth adventure in the
Bond series, starring Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry, and a top contender for
number one in the franchise. Although Sean Connery was the coolest Bond,
Brosnan is the best overall, and the closest (so far) to the character
portrayed in Ian Fleming’s novels.</div>
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<i>Die Hard</i> (1988)—probably the best action film ever
made, starring the iconic Bruce Willis as the equally iconic John McLane (the
role was first pitched to Frank Sinatra and Arnold Schwarzenegger, both of whom
turned it down). The script is flawless and layered with social commentary and
the action moves fast. Alan Rickman is brilliant as Hans Gruber, the terrorist
mastermind.</div>
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<i>Eraser</i> (1996)—Ah-nuld again as U.S. Marshall John
Kruger, code-named “Eraser” for his expertise at making people disappear into
the Federal Security Witness Protection Program, on the run with Vanessa
Williams, who has appropriated information regarding the secret sale of a top
secret superweapon to terrorists.</div>
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<i>Executive Decision</i> (1996)—when terrorists carrying a
deadly nerve agent hijack a plane headed for Washington, D.C., U.S. Army
intelligence consultant Dr. David Grant (Kurt Russell) and a force of commandos
board the jet in mid-air and save the day. Halle Berry is in this one, too,
plus a short appearance by Steven Seagal. Tense, exciting—well worth watching.</div>
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<i>Fair Game</i> (1995)—a much overlooked (and for some
strange reason, much-maligned) action flick starring William Baldwin and Cindy
Crawford. When lawyer Kate McQuean (Cindy Crawford) tries to seize a freighter
in a divorce case settlement, she sets off a firestorm of events that forces
her on the run with police detective Max Kirkpatrick (William Baldwin). The
result is a non-stop, seat-of-your-pants action extravaganza.</div>
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<i>Goldfinger</i> (1964)—probably the best of the Sean
Connery Bond efforts (although nothing is cooler than the first time Connery
says, “Bond, James Bond” in <i>Dr. No</i>).</div>
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<i>Hard to Kill</i> (1990)—police detective Mason Storm
(Steven Seagal) wakes up from a seven-year coma to seek vengeance against the
corrupt police and politicians who murdered his wife. Seagal’s ex-wife, Kelly
LeBrock, co-stars.</div>
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<i>Independence Day</i> (1996)—absolutely the best
humans-versus-aliens movie ever made, with almost a billion dollars in box
office receipts to prove it.</div>
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<i>Jeremiah Johnson</i> (1972)—Mexican War (1846-1848)
veteran Jeremiah Johnson (Robert Redford) drops out to become a mountain man in
the Utah Rockies. He adopts a settler boy and marries a Native American woman
(played superbly by Delle Bolton), but when Crow warriors kill his family, he
wreaks revenge by waging a one-man war against them. A truly beautiful movie
with gorgeous scenery.</div>
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<i>Joe Kidd</i> (1972)—a first-class Western starring Clint
Eastwood as the title character, who is forced into a manhunt by wealthy
landowner Frank Harlan (Robert Duvall). Duvall is perfect in the role and Don
Stroud as one of his henchmen is priceless. The screenplay was written by
Elmore Leonard.</div>
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<i>Midnight Run</i> (1988)—an action comedy starring Robert
De Niro (who couldn’t possibly be better) and Charles Grodin (same). De Niro
plays bounty hunter Jack Walsh who is assigned to bring embezzling, bail-skipping
Mafia accountant <span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Jonathan "The
Duke" Mardukas (Charles Grodin) from New York City to Los Angeles with a
rival bounty hunter, the FBI, and the mob hot on his trail.</span></div>
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<i>Mission: Impossible III</i> (2006)—the best of the
series, with Philip Seymour Hoffman as a really nasty villain.</div>
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<i>On Deadly Ground</i> (1994)—Steven Seagal fights a greedy
oil refinery magnate (Michael Caine) in Alaska. Lots of cool explosions and
quality kills.</div>
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<i>Raw Deal</i> (1986)—small-town sheriff Mark Kaminsky
(Arnold Schwarzenegger) takes on the Chicago mob to help his friend (Darren
McGavin) avenge the death of his son. Non-stop bullets, all of which
miraculously miss the cigar-chomping Schwarzenegger. Great movie!</div>
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<i>Red Heat</i> (1988)—Ah-nuld as a Moscow cop teams up with
Chicago detective Art Ridzik (James Belushi) to catch a Russian drug lord.
Hilarious at times.</div>
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<i>Ronin</i> (1998)—Robert De Niro stars in a complex story
of double-crosses and shifting loyalties. First-class car chases.</div>
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<i>Shooter</i> (2007)—Mark Wahlberg as Bob Lee Swagger, a
former Marine sniper who is framed for murder and has to go on the run to
expose the machinations of a cadre of ruthless politicians.</div>
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<i>Taken</i> (2008)—Liam Neeson stars in this non-stop
thrill ride about an ex-CIA operative who sets out to rescue his kidnapped
daughter.</div>
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<i>The Bourne Identity</i> (2002)—from Robert Ludlum’s
bestselling novel, the first Bourne of the series ranks as one of the best
action movies of all time. Matt Damon was born to play the role (although Doug
Liman, the director, approached Russell Crowe and Sylvester Stallone first).
Julia Stiles is a standout.</div>
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<i>The Guns of Navarone</i> (1961)—from the classic Alistair
MacLean novel. A team of World War II commandos is assigned to destroy a
formidable Nazi gun emplacement that has been sinking Allied ships in the
Aegean Sea. Top of the list of its genre.</div>
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<i>The Italian Job</i> (2003)—a high-energy, fun caper flick
about a gold robbery gone wrong.</div>
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<i>The Outlaw Josey Wales</i> (1976)—Clint at his best as
the eponymous Josey Wales, a post-Civil War Missouri farmer driven to seek
revenge for the murder of his wife and son by pro-Union Jayhawkers. Forced to
flee west, he gathers a diverse new “family” around him while battling his
pursuers. Excellent movie!</div>
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<i>The Rock</i> (1996)—when a force of rogue Marines
commandeer Alcatraz Island to hold the city of San Francisco ransom with
rockets filled with VX nerve gas, FBI chemical weapons specialist Dr. Stanley
Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage) and ex-Alcatraz inmate John Mason (Sean Connery) team
up to stop them. The car chase through the streets of San Francisco is a
classic!</div>
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<i>The Transporter</i> (2002)—the first of the franchise,
starring the ubiquitous Jason Statham as Frank Martin, a mysterious man who
will transport anything, anywhere, always on time, with no questions asked for
a large fee.</div>
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<i>Timecop</i> (1994)—Jean-Claude Van Damme as police
officer/U.S. Federal agent who travels through time to stop other travelers
from committing crimes in the past. Very interesting movie—fun to watch.</div>
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<i>Under Siege</i> (1992)—Steven Seagal as former Navy SEAL
Casey Ryback who single-handedly rescues a battleship from terrorists. Garey
Busey and Tommy Lee Jones are perfect psychopaths. Plus Playboy Playmate Erika
Eleniak jumps out of a cake topless. This is one excellent action flick!</div>
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<i>Under Siege 2: Dark Territory</i> (1995)—almost as good
as the original. This time Ryback goes up against terrorists on a train. A
must-see final act.</div>
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<i>Unforgiven</i> (1992)—Clint at his best again. Aging
gunman and outlaw William Munny (Clint), now an unsuccessful pig farmer,
decides to seek the reward for killing two cowboys who disfigured a prostitute
in Big Whiskey, Wyoming. Gene Hackman is brilliant as Little Bill Daggett, the
local keeper of the peace and David Webb People’s script is drum-tight. The
movie won four Academy Awards, including Best Director for Clint. Lots of
violence, but a must-see.</div>
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<i>Where Eagles Dare</i> (1968)—a World War II actioner from
the pen of Alistair MacLean, starring Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood. As
usual with a MacLean plot, it’s hard to pin down who’s who or what’s what as
double- and triple-crosses abound. Clint as Army Ranger Lieutenant Morris
Schaffer mows down half the German army.</div>
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<i>XXX: State of the Union</i> (2005)—Ice Cube as Darius
Stone stars in this lesser-known (but far better) sequel to Vin Diesel’s <i>XXX</i>.</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://amzn.com/B005WM0HN6</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08034748375177433198noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867934253790182810.post-80673523733507041102013-04-15T12:47:00.000-05:002013-04-15T12:47:26.876-05:00Random Musings from a Thriller Author (Sapphire and Platinum, Naming Characters, Research, Plotting, Reviews, Thanks)<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
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Update on <i>Sapphire</i> and <i>Platinum</i></div>
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Many thanks to all who have asked about the publication date of <i>Sapphire</i> and <i>Platinum</i>, the next two Park Skarda-April Force adventure thrillers! I’m happy to announce that (at last!) I’ve completed the final edits and the books will be out very soon, bundled together into a single volume.</div>
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Naming Characters</div>
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A number of fans have asked how I came up with the names Park Skarda and April Force. As for Skarda, I’ve always liked the name Parker and Skarda is a surname I think I saw on a sign somewhere (?) many years ago when our family would take car trips. I filed the name away in my head and decided it would fit Park’s character because he is, in many ways, scarred by his past, by the murder of his wife. As for April, I’ve been accused of resorting to a kitschy, Pussy Galore-type moniker, but (while I do admit to a little bit of that!), in truth I see her as a force of nature, an independent, strong woman, utterly in tune with herself and her environment (which is one of the reasons she’s so popular with female readers). So “April” for her congruence with nature and “Force” for her strength, courage, and lethal skills at defeating her enemies. And, “Force” is an actual French surname with historical antecedents prior to the 7<sup>th</sup> century (she is, of course, half French and half Native American).</div>
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Research and Plotting</div>
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I’m also asked quite often about how much research I do for each book I write. The answer is: a lot! Usually I wind up with 50-100 pages of notes (even for novellas). And the research usually sparks new plot ideas. I work very hard at coming up with fresh plots, usually based on real-world discoveries or anomalies from the historical record, so the need for research is apparent. The plot of <i>Sapphire</i>, for example, revolves around laser weapons (currently being developed and tested by the U.S. Navy) and <i>Platinum</i> has to do with cloaking technology, very much an astounding real-world scientific breakthrough in the field of nanotechnology. <i>Emerald</i> concerns the fabled Emerald Tablet of Thoth, a mythological artifact supposedly inscribed by Thoth, a god-king of Atlantis (there does exist, however, an Arabic alchemical text called the <i>Emerald Tablet</i> or <i>Tabula Smaragdina</i>, written between the sixth and eighth centuries CE). As always, above all, I want to entertain my readers—I feel that this is the ultimate job of the author. I do, of course, at times bend the facts a bit to fit the plot, but then, after all, that’s why they call it fiction!</div>
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Reviews: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly</div>
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Every author loves good reviews—they’re a gratifying pat on the back, an affirmation that you’re doing something that people like. And they’re very much appreciated. But—sadly—bad reviews happen also. This is only to be expected: not everyone is going to like what you do (all my favorite authors [James Rollins, Andy McDermott, Clive Cussler, Matthew Reilly, Boyd Morrison, Jack Dubrul] get tons of 1-star reviews—and these are all excellent authors who in no way deserve anything less than a 4!). Even <i>The Great Gatsby</i>—truly a great American novel—has well over 100 1-star reviews! You just can’t please everybody! </div>
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But malicious or irresponsible negative reviews are a different story. Recently I had a conversation with a thriller author friend who was angered and appalled about a number of 1-star reviews that have been popping up on his book pages. Some are obviously from competitors, trying to destroy his sales (his books are popular). But one is from a reader who expected one of his novels to be an historical thriller (even though the book description makes it quite clear that the story is set in present day and 10% of the book is available to be read before purchase); another is from someone who got not only the names of the characters wrong, but even the main thrust of the plot (meaning that the person probably just scanned the book description and trashed it without reading the text); and still another is by a reader who complained that the author had described a doorknob as located on the wrong side of the door (it turns out that the author was right), etc. I tried to console him, saying that bad and malicious reviews are just part of the game. But that doesn’t make them conscionable. It takes an enormous amount of time and passion and energy to write a novel, and I personally would never give a book a 1-star rating, unless it was overtly racist or otherwise in some way egregiously objectionable. Granted, intelligent readers will read between the lines and take negative reviews for what they are, but 1-star ratings can hurt an author’s sales and overall ranking, which further causes sales to plummet. So I told him, I think all of us should start asking people to remove their 1-star reviews or at least re-evaluate them and upgrade them to a more realistic rating. I also encourage readers who enjoy an author’s work to take the time to post great reviews (it really does make a difference).</div>
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A Word of Thanks</div>
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I truly appreciate all the accolades from fans of Skarda and April on Twitter and in private e-mail messages, etc. As I said above, my goal is truly to entertain and your praise makes me realize that that’s what I’m doing!</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://amzn.com/B005WM0HN6</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08034748375177433198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867934253790182810.post-54978040670234124672012-06-30T17:58:00.001-05:002012-06-30T17:58:36.589-05:00At last (!) my new Park Skarda-April Force novella has been published as a Kindle edition on Amazon!
Here is the link to the book: <a href="http://amzn.com/B008FWKNKC"></a>
I hope everyone enjoys it--I love to entertain my fans!
Brian<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://amzn.com/B005WM0HN6</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08034748375177433198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867934253790182810.post-42604992869450159942012-05-13T12:24:00.002-05:002012-05-13T12:24:40.206-05:00An update to all who have been asking about "Diamond", the next Park Skarda-April Force thriller! I'm in the final edits now, so it will be out soon!
Also a big thanks to all my new readers and fans! I've been getting great reviews (and a couple of clunkers, too--that's built into the system!) and an enormous amount of "Wow!"'s and "I couldn't put the book down"'s from all my fans on Twitter! It's much appreciated! I work very hard on these novels so my fans will be entertained!<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://amzn.com/B005WM0HN6</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08034748375177433198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867934253790182810.post-51804323631555924872012-02-06T16:06:00.005-06:002012-02-06T16:39:22.179-06:00The Unknown TemplarPlease check out my British author friend's website, The Unknown Templar http://www.theunknowntemplar.com/section513903.html. He has a novel out titled <i>The Templar Agenda</i> and has some very interesting articles available about English history, including one of my favorites, Robin Hood.<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://amzn.com/B005WM0HN6</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08034748375177433198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867934253790182810.post-16272651423490007912012-01-19T15:17:00.001-06:002012-01-19T15:28:38.452-06:00A big thanksto everybody who has been downloading and reading <i>Emerald</i> and <i>Silver</i>! I've been getting all kinds of nice, "I-couldn't-put-it-down" comments from fans and I truly appreciate it!<br />
<br />
I'm trying to find time to add more content to the blog!<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://amzn.com/B005WM0HN6</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08034748375177433198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867934253790182810.post-51533806839618207262012-01-16T17:05:00.002-06:002012-01-16T17:05:51.071-06:00Blog InterviewI'm interviewed on Ethan Jones' blog! Take a look at: http://ethanjones.blog.com/<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://amzn.com/B005WM0HN6</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08034748375177433198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867934253790182810.post-19194617440717019422011-12-27T12:38:00.005-06:002012-02-06T16:37:15.209-06:00Silver is out!<i>Silver</i>, the next Park Skarda-April Force thriller has just been published as a Kindle edition! Thanks to everyone who's been asking about the publication date--I hope you enjoy it! <br />
<br />
Here is the book description:<br />
<br />
OSR agents Park Skarda and April Force are back in their second pulse-pounding adventure from Brian January, author of <i>Emerald</i>!<br />
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When a volcanic eruption destroyed the island of Thera in 1600 BCE, the fleeing inhabitants carried away with them a huge hoard of silver. But this silver wasn’t pure—it contained quantities of a rare earth element known as neosamarium, an element vital to the military strength of the United States, and one that the Chinese will pay a small fortune to get their hands on.<br />
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Searching for the hoard on Crete, OSR agents Park Skarda and April Force are given an ancient silver plaque by a dying archaeologist. They enlist the aid of Nathaniel Bennett, a genius Minoan scholar, to help them translate the artifact and unravel the clues about the treasure’s location. But the long-dead Minoans are not going to give up their secrets easily, and the ultimate answer will come at too high a cost.<br />
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With time running out, Skarda, April, and Nathaniel hunt through hidden caves and buried temples across the breadth of Crete, Turkey, and Cyprus, pursued by a ruthless female pirate, a cold-blooded mercenary, and an unscrupulous black market art collector. <br />
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Facing betrayals, danger, and certain death, they must survive a life-and-death race to stay one step ahead of their enemies and find the fabled treasure before it’s too late. <br />
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<i>Silver</i> is approximately 52,000 words or 210 printed pages.<br />
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Here is the link to the book at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Silver-ebook/dp/B006QCZF3S/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbsOfCrKd0Auh-bnLpAvEYoiMJaKobOSS93tZhvzVmwR3_o7ysNoggxoUlCmfUvJeQVTKWZe5x_vHCaqvBegmBSdy4JIgRTHOhgdp4-0Wuq_aj7p51v119rePgx3ErRWMEDumVhT6jvgI/s1600/silercoverfinaljpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbsOfCrKd0Auh-bnLpAvEYoiMJaKobOSS93tZhvzVmwR3_o7ysNoggxoUlCmfUvJeQVTKWZe5x_vHCaqvBegmBSdy4JIgRTHOhgdp4-0Wuq_aj7p51v119rePgx3ErRWMEDumVhT6jvgI/s320/silercoverfinaljpg.jpg" /></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://amzn.com/B005WM0HN6</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08034748375177433198noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867934253790182810.post-12868741456673772102011-12-20T15:00:00.000-06:002011-12-20T15:00:33.638-06:00Next Thriller?A lot of my fans have been e-mailing me, asking when my next Park Skarda-April Force thriller will be out. I'm happy to announce that <i>Silver</i>, their next adventure, will be published as a Kindle edition before the end of the year!<br />
<br />
Thanks for all the praise and good comments about <i>Emerald</i>. I hope you enjoy <i>Silver</i> just as much!<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://amzn.com/B005WM0HN6</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08034748375177433198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867934253790182810.post-25336781677232840292011-12-16T11:04:00.000-06:002013-05-08T12:31:52.008-05:00Vinca: The Language of Atlantis? by Brian JanuaryPivotal to the plot of <i>Emerald</i> is the theory that an advanced Neolithic civilization (in terms of learning and writing) was flourishing on the eastern shores of the Euxine Lake (the body of fresh water bounded by Europe, Anatolia, and the Caucasus before it became the Black Sea) approximately 7,500 years ago. At this time warmer temperatures accelerated the melting of the Ice Age glaciers, causing the levels of the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas to rise. The result was the flooding of the Euxine Lake and the vast fertile plains that surrounded it, destroying this advanced civilization and inaugurating a mass diaspora into Egypt and Crete.<br />
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The memory of this ancient disaster has come down to us as the myth of Atlantis.<br />
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But Laura "Flinders" Carlson, the brilliant linguist who helps OSR agents Park Skarda and April Force stop a cult of descendants of this doomed race from destroying the Earth in a worldwide deluge, has to decipher the ancient script of the “Atlanteans”--a script which had been inscribed on the fabled Emerald Tablet of Thoth.<br />
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During the course of the story, Flinders theorizes that the Atlantean script is a linguistic evolution of the language spoken by the Cro-Magnon people, who migrated into eastern and central Europe 50,000 years ago, and it was the eventual written form of this language that further evolved into the Vinca or Old European script, a language system that predates Sumerian/Akkadian cuneiform, the supposed earliest invention of human writing.<br />
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(As a side note, it is indisputable that the Cro-Magnons had language. In fact, it’s possible to posit the argument that some of the symbols scratched or painted on cave walls during the Upper Paleolithic constitute a rudimentary form of language—not pictograms or syllabaries, but rather signs representing conceptual ideas, such as “abundance”, “growth”, ‘sacrifice”, etc. And there is much reason to suppose that modern language isolates like Basque and Berber are linguistic continuants of the language the Cro-Magnons spoke [in Basque, for example, the word for knife means “stone that cuts” and the word for ceiling means “top of the cavern”]).<br />
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From approximately the sixth to the third millennia BCE the Vinca culture proliferated along the shores of the Danube in what is now Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia before it was swallowed up by history. But between 1918 and 1934 the Serbian archaeologist Miloje Vasic excavated a Neolithic settlement in the village of Vinca, near Belgrade, revealing artifacts from this vanished civilization that had flourished three millennia before Dynastic Egypt. Here there were housing complexes, streets, temples, mines, and the workshops of artisans. <br />
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And the Vinca script.<br />
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But there was a problem. Since the archaeological establishment of the time had already determined that Sumer was the birthplace of writing and the Vinca artifacts showed remarkable correspondences to the Sumerian writing system, then it was Sumer which had influenced the development of the Vinca culture and not the other way around (this was, of course, before the discovery of carbon dating techniques). Vinca was largely forgotten.<br />
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In 1961, however, Nicolae Vlassa, an archaeologist attached to the Cluj Museum in Romania rediscovered three inscribed clay tablets first unearthed in 1875 at the Neolithic site of Turdas in what was then Transylvania. Vlassa speculated that the symbols on these small, unfired tablets were pictograms, very similar to their Sumerian counterparts. Carbon dating proved, however, that the symbols predated the proto-Sumerian pictographic system by at least thirteen hundred years (approximately 6000 BCE).<br />
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So Vinca was first.<br />
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The majority of the Vinca inscriptions have been found on pottery and most consist of a single symbol. Some, however, are arranged in groups and patterns. Overall, except for the Sitovo inscription, found in Bulgaria, the number of symbols in any inscription is quite limited, and it is this paucity which is the most significant scholarly argument against Vinca as an actual writing system. Moreover, some scholars think the symbols are religious iconography, since the same marks were used for centuries without change and have been found inscribed on figurines buried under houses, perhaps indicating a household religious observance.<br />
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But in the novel, Flinders points out the remarkable resemblance between Vinca and Linear A, the untranslated language spoken by the Minoans on Crete from approximately 1900-1450 BCE. The Minoans were a Neolithic culture, isolated from the outside influence and culture evolution of mainland Europe; recent DNA analysis proves that they originated in Anatolia and the Near East and hence could easily have spoken and written the Vinca language. Therefore, she concludes that Vinca was an actual writing system, which in time evolved into proto-Sumerian, Linear A, and perhaps even Egyptian hieroglyphics.<br />
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Flinders’ argument is cogent. But whether she’s right or wrong, it’s fun to speculate!<br />
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For an example at what the Vinca script looks like, see <a href="http://www.omniglot.com/writing/vinca.htm">http://www.omniglot.com/writing/vinca.htm</a><br />
<br />
Corroborating evidence: <br />
<br />
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/crkurrg">http://tinyurl.com/crkurrg</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/d32qr3l">http://tinyurl.com/d32qr3l</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://amzn.com/B005WM0HN6</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08034748375177433198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867934253790182810.post-74244517241812498902011-10-20T16:43:00.000-05:002011-10-20T16:43:24.684-05:00My New Thriller Novel "Emerald" Has Just Been Published on Kindle!Beneath the ruins of a time-lashed temple in the Egyptian desert, two ancient pillars--one made of solid gold, the other of emerald--reveal the existence of an unknown power source, an element so powerful that a single teaspoon could turn an entire city into molten slag.<br />
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27,000 miles above the Arctic Circle, a clandestine satellite-based laser weapon readies to boil the polar ice pack to slush, giving access to billions of barrels of oil buried beneath the ocean floor.<br />
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And inside a remote mountaintop fortress in Crimea, a cult of descendants of a vanished civilization plots to drown the Earth in a planet-wide deluge.<br />
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All these occurrences have one thing in common: the Emerald Tablet of Thoth, the fabled writings of the legendary priest-king of Atlantis.<br />
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Hunted by a psychotic assassin and the fanatic followers of the cult, OSR agents Park Skarda and April Force and their brilliant linguist ally Flinders Carlson are plunged into a deadly race against time, a race they must survive at all costs if they are to find the Tablet and keep it out of their enemies' hands.<br />
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From secret chambers beneath the Sphinx to a hidden vault in the bowels of the Vatican to a Nazi U-boat perfectly preserved in the oxygen-starved depths of the Black Sea, Skarda, April, and Flinders pursue a path of danger and death to save mankind from ultimate destruction.<br />
<br />
Length 106,000 words: approximately 425 printed pages.<br />
<br />
Here is the link to Amazon: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/emerald-ebook/dp/B005WM0HN6">http://www.amazon.com/emerald-ebook/dp/B005WM0HN6</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://amzn.com/B005WM0HN6</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08034748375177433198noreply@blogger.com4